SARAH GANCHER
PLAYWRIGHT
Upcoming
>> Winner of the James Stevenson Prize for Comedy from NPR's Playing on Air
Radio play Tech Demons commissioned by NPR's Playing on Air
Directed by Marc Bruni
with Isaac Oliver and Jay O Sanders
Premiering on NPR nationwide on October 31, 2021
>>Radio play with music I Could Get a Man
commissioned by Playwrights Horizons for their series Soundstage's Season 2
directed by Jade King Carroll
>> New short film created with director Ellie Heyman
funded generously by a NYSCA grant (via WP Theater)
>> Head writer for Blue Man Group, Summer 2021
>> Spring 2021: Commissioned to write a major new work by Dorset Theater Festival
>> Workshop of new musical Rutka's Diary
with composers Jocelyn MacKenzie and Jeremy Lloyd Styles of Pearl and the Beard
and dramaturg Ken Cerniglia
Fall 2021
>>Also working on:
new musical Maestro with Ben Wexler, commissioned by Grove/Whitman
new musical The Hustler and the Nun with Andrew Bancroft, commissioned by Araca
Current
>>Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy made the New York Times' Best Theater of 2020 list
>>Russian Troll Farm Press:
NPR's All Things Considered
Al Jazeera's news podcast The Take
NY Times Critics' Pick
"Gancher's play is so urgent, smart, and chewy. No wonder the presenting institutions—TheaterWorks Hartford and TheaterSquared in Fayetteville, Ark., in association with the Brooklyn-based Civilians—came together... to mount the complicated production before the election. I'm glad they did: "Russian Troll Farm" is one of the first new full-length plays I've seen since theater moved online that is rewarding as a text, makes the most of excellent actors and approaches full engagement with the new, hybrid form..." —Jesse Green, New York Times
>>Named a member of the 2020-2021 Orchard Project Greenhouse lab
>>2020-2021: Teaching Third Year MFA Thesis Playwriting at The New School for Drama
Teaching Grad Masterclass in Comedy (Long Form) at NYU Tisch School of the Arts's Department of Dramatic Writing
Teaching Undergrad Play 1 at NYU Tisch DDW
Developing curriculum for the New School's new MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance (launching 21-22)
>>Online production of Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy
Extended again until Jan 14
a site-specific performance for the internet
co-directed by Jared Mezzocchi and Elizabeth Williamson
Set/Costumes: Brenda Abbandolo
Lights: Amith Chandrashaker
Sound: Andre Pluess
With Danielle Slavick, Greg Keller, Ian Lassiter, Haskell King and Mia Katigbak
Presented by Theaterworks Hartford, TheaterSquared, and The Civilians
Live online performances October 20—24
>>Spring 2020: Play At Home commission from Playwrights Realm: Fill in the Play
a theatrical experiment: mad lib meets improv game meets play
Fill out the form and a PDF of a one-of-a-kind play will be automatically emailed to you.
>>Spring 2020: Watch new play for 24 Hour Plays : Toilet Paper Kayak starring Becky Ann Baker and Dylan Baker
Recent
>>Mission Drift named one of The Guardian's Top 50 Theater Shows of the 21st Century, Sept 2019
written with The TEAM and Heather Christian, directed by Rachel Chavkin
>>The Lucky Ones wins the 2019 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre
written with The Bengsons, directed by Anne Kauffman, choreography by Sonya Tayeh
>>Hundred Days published/licensed through Broadway Licensing
Hundred Days cast album released on Ghostlight Records
written with The Bengsons, directed by Anne Kauffman, choreography by Sonya Tayeh
>>Hundred Days on tour
Japanese Production, spring 2020 (canceled mid-run due to COVID-19)
at the Straz Center in Tampa, Jan 15 — March 24, 2019
at Miami's Arsht Center, April 10 — April 21, 2019
at La Jolla Playhouse, September 22 — October 21, 2018
>>Working with Cirque du Soleil on a new circus
>> Working with Madison Square Garden on a new large-scale spectacle
>>Grove/Whitman Commissioning Program Showcase, excerpt from Maestro, music and lyrics by Ben Wexler,
at Signature Theatre, October 21, 2019
>>Closed Reading of a The Place We Built at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Danya Taymor, October 22, 2019
>>Reading of Five Mothers at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC
directed by Joshua Kahan Brody
April 9, 2019 @ 7 pm
including discussion with Hungarian scholar, activist, and organizer Eszter Súsan
,